Build Your Fundraising Capacity!
Working closely with staff and boards, Janet Levine Consulting will help you increase fundraising capacity and build sustainability. Our philosophy is one of collaboration, where together we develop and implement comprehensive programs that fit the needs and resources of your organization. Call or email today for your FREE 30-minute consultation
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GET GRANTS!
A comprehensive and easy-to-follow guide to writing winning proposals that will teach you to:
--Assess your organizational readiness for grant funding
--Develop programs that are fundable
--Turn those programs in successful grant proposals
--Find appropriate funders |
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Greetings!
Ten more days until we return home. To our regular
routines, where everything is, if not exactly in its place, than at least close to where I expect it to be. Without being 8 hours ahead of most of my clients, I will be able to better plan my days--and nights. No more rushing through dinner so I can get on the phone for an 11 o'clock--Pacific Time--call. Some things, of course, are better this way. I typically don't get afternoon emails until my following morning--giving me time to consider answers. No point I shooting from the hip when they won't be reading it for another 10 hours!
Having time to think, of course, is the main value of changing your routines. In the spaces when you are not doing what you usually do, you may find yourself wondering if what you have been doing could be improved. You might even stumble across a better way to do whatever it is.
This break is what I think many of clients need most-- to stop doing what they've been doing so they can, perhaps, do it better. Or at the very least, think about what they are doing.
I know that often, so busy with getting it done, there doesn't seem to be time to consider if you are doing the right things--spending your limited time in the right places
A lot of my work turns out to be a nag: Have you done this? Why are you doing that? Could we consider a different approach? Often it feels that I am nagging them to make or keep appointments--with me! I I'm there to help them build their fundraising program or bring the board better up to speed. I've not been hired to do the work alone, in my corner. If I do that, when I am gone, when the contract is over, they will be back where they started, with no benefit accrued to anyone.
Yes, yes, they agree. We understand that. But this month it's the gala or the annual appeal, or--too often--we're in crisis and must scramble...stop! I want to scream. This is precisely what I can help you to conquer
I, of course, too often focus on my problem clients. In these five weeks, I've actually had time to focus on the others-- most of them, in fact--where things work relatively well, where we move forward mostly on schedule and real change occurs. What makes these go right--and what can I take from these successes that can be used with the others?
Focusing on the positive is always more productive. Considering what you can do, more apt to bring success than whining about what you can't.
I think I will take my own advice and instead of feeling badly about all I haven't gotten done this trip, I'll content myself with what I have done and consider how I can keep that momentum going!
This month brings some great advice on boards, on building revenues, and of course on fundraising. To quote Ira Glass, Stay With Us!
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Need help in increasing your fundraising capacity or getting your Board to participate? Help is here. Email me or call 310-990-9151.
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Sometimes It Takes A Two By Four
Mitch Dorger is the principal of Dorger Consulting. He is a specialist at improving organizational effectiveness, particularly nonprofit organizations. He can be reached at mitch@dorger.com or 626-255-5832.
 To paraphrase General Norman Schwarzkopf, one of America's top war time leaders,"When you're dealing with very high ranking people, you have to get their attention. By virtue of their rank, they are used to having their own way and doing their own thing, and when it's necessary to all work together on something, sometimes you have to hit the mule between the eyes with a two by four to get its attention."
I think of that quote often when I am asked by colleagues and friends how they can get their board's attention and get them more committed to the hard work of governing the organization.
I actually faced this dilemma a number of years ago. The board I was dealing with at the time was (1) used to getting its own way, (2) very operationally oriented, and (3) not performing all of the governance responsibilities that an effective board should be working on.
I struggled with how to best bring these shortcomings to their attention and get them moving toward correcting them. But as Schwarzkopf said, they were used to doing their own thing and felt like they did not need any advice on how to do their job
One of techniques that I learned over the years in dealing with people is that it seldom makes sense to mount a white horse and go charging into battle. It is often best to look around and get a feel for the whole situation and find out if there are any bears in the cave before charging into it armed only with a stick.
In this particular instance I began by talking individually to some selected board members about how they felt the board was performing and how we might go about improving the governance of the organization. I found a few that were quite satisfied with the current situation, but I found a few others who had served on high performing nonprofit boards in the past who saw the shortcomings in the current system. I specifically solicited the help and guidance of one of these individuals who, as luck would have it, was slated to be the incoming chair of the board.
We agreed it would be best to use the vehicle of a board retreat shortly after the start of the new presidential term. We felt this retreat could be used to (1) educate the board on their responsibilities, (2) help them to realize that they were not doing all they should be doing as a governing board, and (3) energize and motivate them along the path of corrective action.
Did it work? The answer is yes! When we completed the session that day, the board was united in its understanding of the current situation and committed to improving it. Here is how we did it. ( READ MORE)
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Resolving Your Cash Crunch
The biggest challenge for many nonprofits is building a sustainable funding stream. Funding comes-or should come-from a variety of sources. In the aggregate, nonprofits funding looks like this:
Your organization, of course, may look nothing like this, but the issue of sustainable funding is probably still with you. So read on.
For most nonprofits, program fees-whether they are paid by the user, the government, or some third party-make up the bulk of income coming in. However, this is an extremely finite source. Your fees can only go so high before they put you out of business. It's one of the things that make us nonprofits. It's not that we can't make a profit, it is that at our core, we cannot charge enough for our core mission to pay the bills and then some.
Charitable gifts and grants are also finite. Over the past 40 or so years, they account for just about 2% of our Gross Domestic Product (GDP). This hasn't gone up or down in any significant way. Individually, a nonprofit can certainly improve fundraising, bringing in more gifts and charitable grants to the specific organization. But as a sector? It seems that we are fighting an uphill battle.
Government grants, as everyone knows, are on the wane. And when they are not, focus changes and your organization may no longer be competitive for that big, formerly sustaining grant.
So faced with a cash crunch, what can you do?(READ MORE)
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How to Have a Fabulous House Party
House or Parlor Parties are great ways to introduce, interest, and oftentimes invite people to become involved your organization.
They are also golden opportunities for your board to become active and involved fundraisers, while having a good time.There are essentially two types of house parties:
1. The "getting to know the organization" party (often called a "point of entry.") These parties typically introduce new prospects to the organization and set the stage for the next, follow up step.
2. The "Solicitation" party, where guests are expected to make a first gift.
Of course, house parties can also be used to thank donors for past gifts or to introduce existing donors to a new initiative or campaign you hope they will support.
Whether the party is to be used as an introduction or for actual solicitation, they follow similar steps:
Step one is to identify the host.
Typically this is a board member or a major donor. These hosts need to have three things:
- A passion for your organization
- A great place--preferably the host's home--to hold the event
- A large rolodex or contact list
The host must understand that he or she is HOSTING and that means that they pay for the event-invitations, food and drink, as well as providing the invitation list.
Staff or other board members may suggest some people to invite, but primarily this is a way to tap into someone's peer group and reach new prospects.
As with any party you need to invite four times the number of people that you would like to attend. So for a party of 25, you need to invite 100 people.Remember, most people will come as couples-so looking for 25 prospective donors means you will have 45 to 50 PEOPLE at the house, plus the hosts and perhaps a past or current participant or client. The invitations should reflect both the host AND the organization. They can be printed or you may want to use email.
If there will be a solicitation, the invitation should specify that this will be a fundraising event!
Because this event is all about the organization, there will be a presentation about the organization. To ensure that as many people as possible will be in attendance for that portion of the party, you should indicate the time of the presentation in the invitation. (READ MORE)
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- Are your fundraising results down?
 - Board members bored?
- Or are thinking about a campaign?
Whatever your capacity building needs, Janet Levine Consulting can help.
Send me an email or give me a call at 310-990-9151 to schedule a free 30-minute consultation.
I look forward to meeting with you.
Sincerely, 
Janet
Janet Levine
Janet Levine Consulting
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